Dravid focuses on 'Quality practice, good intensity' as India hit the ground running in South Africa

The Ashes | Day-Night Test, Day 5: Jhye Richardson ends England's resistance with five-wicket haul

Jhye Richardson provided a glimpse into the fast bowling depth of Australia with a match-winning five-wicket haul in the second innings of the second Ashes Test concluded today in Adelaide. He picked five important wickets and provided breakthroughs at critical junctures of the game to help Australia get back control whenever England batsmen looked to make things tough for the hosts. He started England’s slide in the night session of the fourth day with a peach of a delivery to dismiss Haseeb Hameed and finished the game with his fifth wicket of the innings in James Anderson. He returned the bowling figure of 19.1-9-42-5 and provide the stand-in captain Steve Smith with both control and wicket-taking deliveries. He would have played the Day-Night Test anyway in place of an injured Josh Hazlewood but the Covid-induced absence of Pat Cummins put extra pressure on him as the second pace bowler in the playing XI. Australia defeated England by 275 runs and took a big 2-0 lead in the five-match series and England will have to come back against the momentum of the series and history to make a comeback in the series.

The Ashes | Day-Night Test, Day 5: Hit wicket ends Jos Buttler's resistance of more than 200 balls

A remarkable innings of resistance that lasted more than 200 balls ended in heartbreak for Jos Buttler and a nightmare for England in the final session of the final day of the Day-Night Test in Adelaide. He batted like a rock after an early chance off the bowling off Mitchell Starc and did not offer Australia a chance. He consumed as many as 206 balls to score 26 runs before he walked back on his stumps after pushing a Jhye Richardson’s delivery and was dismissed hit wicket. It was his first such dismissal in his entire First-Class career and became only the 163rd batsman in the entire history of Test cricket to be out hit wicket. England needed a mammoth 468 runs to win the second Test of the five-match long series but only they could dare only for a draw as they lost as many as four wickets on the fourth day itself including the skipper Joe Root. With Buttler’s wicket, the end is nigh for England and Australia are closing in on a 2-0 lead in the series with three matches more to go.

LPL 2021 | Qualifier 1: Courtesy of all-round show against Jaffna Kings, Galle Gladiators march into final

Galle Gladiators marched into the final of Lanka Premier League after beating Jaffna Kings by 64 runs in Hambantota on Sunday. Chasing 189 in 20 overs, the Kings were bundled out for 124 in the 17th over as Nuwan Thusara rattled their batting line up with a fifer. He returned with figures of 5/13 in 3.5 overs eventually. The Jaffna side didn’t have a good start to the chase as they lost early wickets and were left struggling at 85/5. Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Wanindu Hasaranga were the only two batters to get to the double-figure mark. Gurbaz top-scored with a fifty while Hasaranga scored 29 off 15. But their efforts weren’t enough to take the side over the line. Earlier, in the day, the Gladiators rode on some fine show from the batters to post 188/5 in 20 overs. Kusal Mendis and Gunathilaka put up an opening stand of 121 runs on the board before the latter departed for 55 off 42. Mendis on the otters side , notched up a 53-ball 85 during the course. Skipper B Rajapaksa’s late surge also pushed the scoring rate as he struck 25 in 15 deliveries that included three maximums. Rajpaksa lauded the batsmen for putting up a good total on the board. “The batters showed the class they have and the pitch is really good here. Our team is very well balanced and I don't want to change much. Beating the defending champions feels good, credit must go to the bowlers and Kusal and Danushka batted really well,” he said after the match. Jaffna Kings will now face Dambulla Giants on Tuesday in the Eliminator in Hambantota.

SJN Report fall out: CSA to launch inquiry to investigate conducts of Graeme Smith, Mark Boucher

Taking cognisance of the findings of the Social Justice and Nation-Building (SJN) report, Cricket South Africa has decided to launch an inquiry over the behavioural conduct of Graeme Smith and Mark Boucher, who were the captain and wicketkeeper-batsman of the South Africa side for a long time before their retirement. However, there is not an immediate threat to their current roles in South Africa cricket. Both of them still hold crucial positions with South Africa cricket with Smith being the Director of Cricket at CSA while Boucher being the head coach of the Proteas side. “The Board has decided to institute formal enquiries into CSA employees, suppliers or contractors who are implicated by the SJN report. The Board has done so mindful of its duty to treat allegations of racism or discrimination with the utmost seriousness and in a manner that ensures fairness and due process in terms of South Africa's labour legislation and the Constitution,” CSA said in its statement. The SJN report was made public last week and claimed that former greats of South Africa such as Smith, Boucher and AB De Villiers were involved in “prejudicial and discriminatory” conduct with other players on the basis of race. Both Smith and Boucher haven’t made any statement yet in response to the findings of the SJN report but de Villiers took to his Twitter timeline to refute any allegations of misconduct on the basis of race.